18 research outputs found
Chapter Conceptual Frameworks of Vulnerability Assessments for Natural Disasters Reduction
Horticultur
Developing an impact library for forecasting surface water flood risk
During surface water flooding events, emergency responders require detailed information on the risks posed in order to provide an appropriate and effective response. Few early warning systems quantitatively estimate the risk and impacts of surface water flooding. Improvements in computational processing capability, availability of new datasets and developments in forecasting models means that the forecasting information currently being supplied by the Flood Forecasting Centre can be improved upon through the application of a timely, impactâbased model. This article presents a novel approach to collating receptor datasets into a preâcalculated Impact Library for use in a Hazard Impact Model (HIM) that will operate using realâtime probabilistic rainfall and surface runoff forecasts for England and Wales. The HIM provides an approach suitable for modelling flood impacts. Initial results are presented for a case study covering the 2012 floods in the North East of England. Information generated by the HIM provides additional benefits beyond current methods. Features include operator access to 1âkm 15âmin spatialâtemporal data, analysis of individual impact criteria and modular refinement of the Impact Library to suit different situations. The HIM has been developed in partnership via the Natural Hazards Partnership
Challenges in assessing and managing multi-hazard risks: A European stakeholders perspective
The latest evidence suggests that multi-hazards and their interrelationships (e.g., triggering, compound, and consecutive hazards) are becoming more frequent across Europe, underlying a need for resilience building by moving from single-hazard-focused to multi-hazard risk assessment and management. Although significant advancements were made in our understanding of these events, mainstream practice is still focused on risks due to single hazards (e.g., flooding, earthquakes, droughts), with a limited understanding of the stakeholder needs on the ground. To overcome this limitation, this paper sets out to understand the challenges for moving towards multi-hazard risk management through the perspective of European stakeholders. Based on five workshops across different European pilots (Danube Region, Veneto Region, Scandinavia, North Sea, and Canary Islands) and an expert workshop, we identify five prime challenges: i) governance, ii) knowledge of multi-hazards and multi-risks, iii) existing approaches to disaster risk management, iv) translation of science to policy and practice, and v) lack of data. These challenges are inherently linked and cannot be tackled in isolation with path dependency posing a significant hurdle in transitioning from single- to multi-hazard risk management. Going forward, we identify promising approaches for overcoming some of the challenges, including emerging approaches for multi-hazard characterisation, a common understanding of terminology, and a comprehensive framework for guiding multi-hazard risk assessment and management. We argue for a need to think beyond natural hazards and include other threats in creating a comprehensive overview of multi-hazard risks, as well as promoting thinking of multi-hazard risk reduction in the context of larger development goals
Chapter Conceptual Frameworks of Vulnerability Assessments for Natural Disasters Reduction
Horticultur
An interactive web-GIS tool for risk analysis: a case study in the Fella River basin, Italy
This paper presents a prototype of an interactive web-GIS tool for risk
analysis of natural hazards, in particular for floods and landslides, based
on open-source geospatial software and technologies. The aim of the
presented tool is to assist the experts (risk managers) in analysing the
impacts and consequences of a certain hazard event in a considered region,
providing an essential input to the decision-making process in the selection
of risk management strategies by responsible authorities and decision
makers. This tool is based on the Boundless (OpenGeo Suite) framework and
its client-side environment for prototype development, and it is one of the
main modules of a web-based collaborative decision support platform in risk
management. Within this platform, the users can import necessary maps and
information to analyse areas at risk. Based on provided information and
parameters, loss scenarios (amount of damages and number of fatalities) of a
hazard event are generated on the fly and visualized interactively within
the web-GIS interface of the platform. The annualized risk is calculated
based on the combination of resultant loss scenarios with different return
periods of the hazard event. The application of this developed prototype is
demonstrated using a regional data set from one of the case study sites,
Fella River of northeastern Italy, of the Marie Curie ITN CHANGES project